Truth

I miss these cuties

Living 14 hours away from two of my grandchildren is a real bummer.  Thankfully their parents and other set of grandparents post lots of pictures on facebook and I get to see and save them.  Here are the latest photos of Kastyn and Jasper.

They just grow up so fast.

Mezuzah

Bill and Christina went to Israel a few weeks ago and brought back several gifts.  They must of not had to worry about the weight of things or left some clothes there, he he.
One of the things they brought back for us was a mezuzah.  Its a little box that you attach to your door for blessings coming and going.  Its suppose to have a rolled up scroll inside.
This is the information on the paper she gave me.
On the door post of every Jewish house, a tiny parchment scroll is placed in a small case called a Mezuzah which is Hebrew for door post.  It contains the words of Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and continues with Deuteronomy 11:13-21 which emphasizes obedience to God's commandments.  The Mezuzah is a reminder of God's protection of the Jews during the final plague in Egypt, and is a symbol of God's protection in the present.  The home marked by a Mezuzah signals a home where the laws of God reign supreme.  A special prayer is read when the Mezuzah is attached to the right door post of the family home.  As the family members enter or leave the home the fingers are kissed and then touch the Mezuzah a the same time the words of Psalm 121:18 are recited: "The Lord shall preserve they going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and forevermore".

Even though we are not Jewish I think we will attach the Mezuzah to the door post of our home.  It will be placed there as a remembrance that the Jews are Gods people.  I believe I am saved by grace and God protects me and my family because I believe in him and have taken him as my savior.

Busy time of year, but so nice

We did not get to go to Branson in October like we sometimes do to see the grandchildren there.  We had just been there in May and Jeff has gone to 5 classes and worked out of town twice in the last four months so there just wasn't time.  Plus he had used all his vacation.  I went to Kansas in December with Hannah.  She was able to visit Hardesty and see many of our old friends.  Hello Kay.  I wish I could of seen you too.

Anyway, here are some photos of our family this season
First is Kastyn and Jasper, Kaleena's children.  They look so sweet dressed and ready for church.  I think that is Jaspers first suit.

Last year for Jeff's birthday which is on December 24th we went to South Padre Island National Seashore, so we did it again this year.  Only this year it was a little warmer so the girls packed a picnic and we ate there.  We found the place where you can drive on the beach and just drove a little ways on there.  We had the pickup with 4 wheel drive so it was ok.  This is last years picture and this years picture at the National Seashore.  Joy made it into a collage.

I have been keeping busy crocheting.  This year I made three of the mermaid blankets and a few of the messy bun hats that became popular.  Now I am working on some baby blankets that I was commissioned to make.  They look like they will be very beautiful.

The girls are still here visiting until the first of the year, but yesterday they took off and went on a mini vacation to Fredericksburg.  They got a motel and did some shopping.  They will come home later today. 

 

 I will be making a lasagna for supper.  I will have to have them stop and pick up some garlic bread to go with it.  I will be cooking a pork roast all night in the crockpot because tomorrow we are going to a friends ranch to make tamales.  I have never made them before so it will be a learning experience.  I'll take some pictures to share.

 

I am going to try to update this blog at least once a week.  I didn't realize anyone really read it anymore but I found out that some dear old friends do read it, so I will do my best to keep up with it.

 

I hope you all have a great end of the year and that you find peace and joy in the Lord and have made him your savior.

 

Have a nice day.

 

Happy is the mother whose children come visit

I am enjoying this week with three of my five daughters.  It makes me happy when I have at least some of them here at the same time.  I don't know if I will ever have all five at once but I am happy with what I can get.

Tornados

My mom and my sister Roberta were spared from too much damage from the 9 tornados that tore around Dodge City Kansas. 

 My brother in law holding some huge hail.

 These twisters were just half a mile from my moms farm.  Her farm is across the road behind this race track.

 This was taken from my sisters garage.  That is way too close if you ask me.  I guess Wayne and my niece Nickitta were in the garage taking pictures and the rest of the family was in the basement.

Another huge hail stone.

                                                          What a huge storm.  Oh my.

                                              Too close for comfort if you ask me.

                                            My family was safe.  A classmate was not so fortunate.
Her home and barn were completely destroyed.  But she and her husband and dogs were in their storm shelter so they were safe.  The tornado even bent the steel door on their storm shelter.

The weather has been tough lately.  But the grace of God has kept my family safe even if they have suffered some losses.

We took a little trip

Jeff and I spent 10 days in Branson visiting 3 of our daughters who live there.  We were able to attend my grandsons 2nd birthday party as well as see two shows.  It was a good time but maybe a little too long.

One beautiful evening we went to Table rock lake where the girls enjoyed the waves sitting on the dock and the sunset.  Mollie, Joy and one of our granddaughters, Courtney.

Isnt this a neat picture of Joy?  She is enjoying the sunset.

 

We got to see the production show of Moses.  It was great.  They even offered to pray with anyone after the show who wanted prayer.  I loved it.

 

Jasper got a 4wheeler from his folks.  I think he will have a ton of fun with it.

 

 

It rained so Kastyns t-ball game was cancelled but this is her the next week.  She is really growing up.

 

Its just a pile of ashes now

My sister Judy is a professional photographer.  A few years ago she moved a train depot to her farm and remodeled it into a photography studio.  She also had a building type thing where she had outside sets made up to take pic.  She also took pictures in the wheat field and woods and any place she found that looked good.

Last week their wheat got hailed out then the milo they had just planted got flooded out.  Then lightning struck her studio and burned it to the ground.  You can see in the following photograph her husband trying to keep the propane tank from exploding.  Thank God it didn't go or he would have been killed.  They also worked all night to keep their home from going up in flames.  They have a tin roof and they think that helped keep the fire from burning their house down because the siding was scorched and there were even burnt spots in the grass on the opposite side of the house.

Of course there was smoke damage in the house to the tune of almost $20,000.00  Yes they have insurance but for an amount far less than it would take to rebuild and replace.  She now has the decision of weather she wants to start over or retire.  I vote retire.  Its time.  Life is short.

I cant imagine the heartache she is feeling.  Every camera except one, all the photographs, film, negatives, computers, props and so on.  Its just awful.

Hannah recieved an academic award at CBC, Costal Bend College

 There is Hannah amongst the group of award recipients and professors.

 Part of our family with Hannah and her award.

 Hannah holding her award.

     Hannah's academic award.  Outstanding student in English.  Hannah has carried a 4.0 thus far in her college career. 
     Joy and Mollie attend college in Missouri and do quite well there but for some reason the school they attend does not do this award type of thing.  Its a pity too because all of my daughter have the drive, determination and heart to achieve great things in their academic careers.  My daughter Kaleena has a masters in curriculum and has taught 5th and 6th grade math and science and has now accepted a position to teach special education.  She is now working on her certificate for that.  I am so proud of all my girls and all the things they have accomplished.  I don't want to forget my oldest Brooke who works with the elderly and is a loving and caring caregiver whose patients love her.

Fun with visiting family

 Hannah fishing.

 Mom enjoying the view.

 Hannah taught my sister Roberta the basics of kayaking.

 Roberta took off like she was born to kayak.

My brother in law Wayne had a great time fishing.
I am enjoying my family.  I live so far away that I don't get many that are able to come visit.  I think they are having a good time and will make this their destination more often.

Wait, what happened to January?

     Today is February 1st and I can hardly believe it.  January flew by with sickness and a long trip. 

        I  started off January with being sick.  Then we drove 17 hours to Arizona to see Jeff's family.  Both of his brothers were there and his sister lives there so he got to spend a lot of time with all of them.  It was an eventful trip with a few exciting things that happened.

     I got to meet a dear facebook friend who is also an author and her husband.  We figured we had been online friends for at least 6 years.  We went out to eat and I don't think we ever stopped talking from the moment we met.  When I was ready to leave she gave me an autographed copy of her book, A Deadly Habit.

http://www.andreasisco.com/

    On Monday after we returned home I got a tooth pulled that turned out to have a large abscess on the root.  I was fine until about 24 hours later when I began to get sick.  I think some of the infection from the tooth got in my sinuses and caused a problem.  I have been sick ever since.  I put in a call today to the dentist and am waiting on a call back.  This morning it seems to of moved into my ears.  I'm not good at being sick so this is pure torture for me.  I rarely get sick so this is hard for me.

     Last evening we drained two number ten cans of diced tomatoes and spread them on dehydrator trays.  They will be finished soon.  I think they will fit in a sandwich baggie.  We saved the juice to drink.  It felt good on my throat.  The dehydrated tomatoes will be much easier to store and take up much less space than two large number ten cans.  I'm going to go through my pantry and see if there are things that are close to their expiration date that I need to dehydrate.  I might as well put my new 9 tray Excalibur to work.  I still have my 4 tray Excalibur so I can put both of them to work.

     I hope you are all well and staying warm this crazy winter.

Happy Birthday Jeff

December 24th is my husband, Jeff's birthday.  For most of his life that day has been pretty much taken up with other goings on so the last few years we have tried to make that day a little more special for him.  He likes to go to the beach on that day because he thinks its so neat that its warm enough where we live to do so.  Last year it was much colder that day and we had to wear jackets.  This year it was in the upper 70's.  Much more pleasant.  We asked a lady near by to snap a pix of us and she did so.  We think it turned out quite well.

Even though it was warm it was still quite foggy.  Our hair was damp and my glasses even fogged up and stayed that way for a long time.  I think Jeff had a good day because he got to spend it with us and do things he wanted to.

 

Happy Birthday Kastyn (4)